What are you even doing with your life? Who are you?
“She doesn’t even go here!”
How do you find your passion? What about your purpose? How do you connect the two?
I may have an unpopular opinion on this one, but your passion doesn’t have to be your purpose. You can bring passion into anything if you try and if you want to.
You can have fun in what you do. You can make fun in what you do.
You can have multiple interests you’re passionate about and bring those things into your business (or job). This doesn’t mean your passion should be your job.
There’s a saying that ‘if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.’ Some would say that’s a nod towards finding what you love to do and then turning that into a business model, or pursuing that as a career.
Personally, I’d say that’s more of a nod towards finding ways to love what you do. Don’t get me wrong, if your work is toxic AF, get out. If your business ain’t working, pivot. But this doesn’t mean that what you love to do should be turned into a living.
Purpose has more to do with conviction, a why, a direction. Passion, on the other hand is more of an emotion, a fire, an energy. As a business owner, if you’re finding that you’re lacking passion (and purpose), take some time to figure out what does light you up. What leaves you feeling energized? What do you get excited about doing? Is this something that you can bring into your business to help you stay lit up about your business?
As for your purpose – why did you start your business? We need to dig more into a why that’s deeper than ‘because I needed money.’ No shit Sherlock.
This doesn’t have to be a life altering event (although it could be). Take about an hour of your time and split that up into 20 minute increments:
- Spend 20 minutes thinking about what lights you up and write about it. How does it make you feel, why do you love it, what about it excites you?
- Do another 20 minutes thinking about why you started your business. I mean really think about it. What does the future look like for you, your family, friends, business etc. Why did you choose to start a business?
- The last 20 minutes try connecting these two together. Is there a way that you can use your passion to fuel your purpose? Maybe you don’t have to bring it INTO your business, but perhaps you can carve more time out for whatever it is that ignites you.
For me, it’s boxing. I fucking loooove boxing, sparing, getting hit in the face and punching my friends in the face. Aint no way for me to bring that into brand design with my clients. So I make sure that at minimum I have 3 days for boxing classes. Something for me to look forward to on the bad days with work, something to help me learn, keep me sharp and keep me excited.
Because when you’re excited and you’re filling your cup – man… that overflow is beautiful and it fuels everything you touch. It helps you create boundaries, focus and just makes you happier in general.
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